Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull was initially called Ledaig, did you know? Ledaig is nowadays the name of their peaty whisky. The distillery was renamed Tobermory in 1979. This is their modern version of Tobermory single malt, bottled at 46,3% ABV, making chill filtration superfluous.

While I get some apples on the nose, it is dominated by coastal elements. Think seaweeds, salt, but also wet hay and some oatmeal. A touch of vanilla and something floral as well. It is a bit dirty, if you know what I mean.

I get a lot more fruit on the palate. Apples, oranges, but also a slice of pineapple. Hint of banana. That is countered nicely by the salty notes. Some woodsmoke. This is better than expected.

The finish is fairly short on apples, sweet malt and a whiff of salt and pepper.

The nose was not really convincing, but on the palate this is quite nice. Very affordable, around 30 EUR. Thanks, Pat!

2 comments

I had a sample of the new 46% at a tasting a couple years ago (OK, I remember exactly: early 2013) and thought it was really surprising and unexpectedly zippy. I was all set to buy a bottle the next time I had money in my whisky piggy bank, and the young buck at the shop gave me a sample from behind the counter. Dull. (And it wasn't the old bottle.) So I passed, but it's occupied a little corner of my mind since then. It's still my list of straightforward whiskies to pick up as a contrast to the peaty stuff I usually drink.

I'll have this review in mind the day I let old Tobermory make it to the top of my buy list.

@markjedi1: Very nice informative review, interesting to see it hasn't changed to much from when i had a bottle 3 years ago pineapple, apples, cucumber and lots of coastal elements @OlJas It gets a lot of help from oxidation so maybe the bottle was a little too fresh